Follow the Evidence
by Lora Tempesta
Summary: When top Investigative Auror Ginny Weasley and Combat Auror Harry Potter have to team up to solve the most baffling string of murders that has hit the magical community in decades, will sparks fly between the two? Obviously. HarryGinny.
1. Prologue

**Follow the Evidence**

**Summary: **_When top Investigative Auror Ginny Weasley and Combat Auror Harry Potter have to team up to solve the most baffling string of murders that has hit the magical community in decades, will sparks fly between the two? Obviously. Harry/Ginny._

**Rating: **_PG for now. Will be raised for later chapters._

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Harry Potter._

_Prologue_:

It was a dark and stormy night.

Lightning slashed the sky open like a piece of paper and thunder rocked the very few people that were still awake at the un-holy hour of the night. One of whom was a young woman, sitting wide awake at her kitchen table.

Auburn strands tumbled out from a loose hair tie, falling over her face. She clutched at a teacup in her right hand, while her left doodled with a quill on a spare bit of parchment. Stream rose from her cup, and she took slow deliberate sips, her long fingers gripped tightly around the warm, steaming mug.

She sighed, putting down the cup down on the table with a soft clink. Dark circles were noticeable underneath her blue eyes. She took one last sip of the cup, draining the mug dry. She heard a creak from behind her, towards her living room. She turned. "Hello?" She called out hesitantly.

No one responded. The woman shivered uncomfortably. She stood up, pulling her dressing gown tighter around her lean body. She sighed, and shuffled to her bedroom, where she lay down in her bed, pulling the covers over her body, and closing her eyes, trying to force herself to sleep. She really needed to see a Healer about this insomnia. She reminded herself. Suddenly, the covers were pulled away from her. She sat up quickly, grabbing her wand from her bedside table. "Rupert!" She exclaimed. "This isn't funny!" She yelled into the darkness.

"I'm not Rupert," a raspy voice said in a gleeful tone and the woman screamed, but felt the darkness surround her and she felt herself slip out of consciousness.


	2. Homecoming

**Follow the Evidence**

**Summary: **_When top Investigative Auror Ginny Weasley and Combat Auror Harry Potter have to team up to solve the most baffling string of murders that has hit the magical community in decades, will sparks fly between the two? Obviously. Harry/Ginny._

**Rating: **_PG for now. Will be raised for later chapters._

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Harry Potter._

**Chapter One**: _Homecoming_

"Wake up you wanker! Wake up you wanker!"

Harry Potter rolled over in his bed with a groan, hitting the alarm clock with a balled fist, knocking it over onto the floor where it turned off with a pitiful beep. "Stupid, bloody, I'm going to kill…" Harry muttered nonsense threats under his breath. Nearly falling out of his bed, he managed to disentangle himself from his sheets and stood up. He looked at his clock that said 9:02am in red luminescent letters.

"Oy! Harry!"

Harry squinted in the general direction of his fireplace, and realized that he didn't have his glasses on. He picked them up from his bedside table and put them on and saw Ron's face clearly sitting in the middle of his roaring fireplace. "What is it?" Harry asked, kneeling down to be face-to-face with Ron.

"Did you forget what day it is?" Ron asked, his hair almost blending into the fire.

"No. It's the twenty-fifth." Harry said, running a hand through his thoroughly messed up hair. Harry glanced at the look on Ron's face, which looked thoroughly disgusted.

Ron rolled his eyes, a very strange sight to see his head do that motion without his body. "It's Ginny's homecoming party. Mum's going frantic when you didn't show up this morning to help us set up for her. Ginny's scheduled to come home within the hour."

Harry's eyes went wide. "Oh, bloody hell! That's today?" He ran into the bathroom without any further words. He heard Ron sigh, and with a small pop, his head vanished from Harry's fireplace.

Harry took a hurried shower, scrubbing away the sleep from his pores, and letting the steam lift his dreams away. He jumped out quickly and he muttered a quick Drying Charm, lifting a hand to sweep over his hand to dry it.

He tried to hurry around his room, and stubbed his toe justly on the corner of his bed. Harry jumped around for a bit, muttering wizard and Muggle curses alike, not helping the pain in his toe at all.

Finally when Harry had calmed down enough, he grabbed his best black jeans and pulled them on and then grabbed a long sleeved black shirt. He shook his head, trying to shake himself awake. He didn't want to try Apparating on an empty stomach, or without full concentration, and he didn't want to test both of them at the same time. Pulling out his wand, he muttered the Apparition Charm, concentrating on the picture of the Burrow's kitchen in his head. With a crack, Harry Disapparated, only to Apparate into the Burrow's kitchen but a half second later.

He opened his eyes to see Mrs. Weasley descend on him with a rather large hug. "How are you, Harry dear?" She asked, pulling back and holding him at arms length. "My, my, each time I see you, you get more and more handsome."

"You're going to spoil me rotten with your compliments, Mrs. Weasley." Harry said, leaning forward and giving her a soft kiss on the cheek and she beamed at him. The stress of the Second War had taken its toll on Mrs. Weasley. She had wrinkles around her eyes from the constant worrying she had done for her family and about Harry and Hermione.

"Go on, join the party." Mrs. Weasley urged him. Harry turned to hear the sound of laughter and talking and general party sounds from the swinging door of the Burrow's kitchen. "Ginny just arrived ten minutes ago. She was really surprised." Mrs. Weasley beamed with pride. The surprise party for Ginny's return home had been a project that she had really looked forward to, and Harry knew it was because she didn't have any of her children at home anymore, so she got to be involved more with this.

"Thank you Mrs. Weasley." Harry said, giving her one more kiss on the cheek. "It's good to see you again."

The Burrow had been well decorated in Ginny's favorite color of forest green. Balloons were tied to the chairs and on the staircase that led to the rest of the house. About thirty people milled around the house, talking to each other and laughing. Harry spotted Ron and Hermione in a corner and smiled and went over to talk to them.

"There you are, mate!" Ron exclaimed, standing up, a drink of magenta colored liquid in his left hand and gave Harry a one armed hug. "We were starting to worry, not that you need to be worried about." He added to the death glare that Harry gave him.

Hermione smiled and stood up to give him a hug as well. "How's your werewolf proposition going through?" Harry asked her.

Hermione gave a wary smile. She looked tired, but happy. "It's meeting some resistance from some of the more conservative witches and wizards, you know, the ones that grew up with the tales from their parents that werewolves would come eat them if they didn't behave." She gave little sigh and then smiled again. "But ever since Severus and Remus started working together to find a different way to control werewolf habits, more and more people are getting convinced. Remus told me that they're getting close to a possible cure, though why they can't ever stop fighting is beyond me."

"School boy hatred, Hermione." Ron said, seriously. "It never truly goes away."

"Is that why you refuse to work with Draco?" Hermione rounded on him.

"_Why_ are you on a first name basis with that git?" Ron spat at her, glaring. "He tried to kill us several times, if your memory fails you."

"He also did save our skins at the Last Battle." Hermione retorted. "And he was working for the other side the entire time during our seventh year."

"He kissed you!"

"Are we back to that again! I told you, Ron, he had to cover or I would get killed!"

"That still doesn't excuse it."

"You, bloody prat!"

"Know-it-all."

"Is that the best you can come up with?"

"We can't all be geniuses like you."

Harry backed away slowly, knowing that if he was lucky, they would be too passionate about their fight to notice him, and if they didn't, hopefully they wouldn't use him to take sides. Ever since they had finally realized what everyone in Gryffindor tower had known for years, during their sixth year, Ron and Hermione's fights had gone down in number, but not in intensity. Hermione was now working as a Wizamagot Defense Attorney. She did most of her cases pro-bono, but she did get offers to work in Wandly, Wandly and Bundes, an acclaimed Wizamagot firm that nearly always got their clients off, innocent or guility. Hermione had made it quiet clear that she would not handle any cases where the client was guilty, such as Lucius Malfoy. "But then again," Hermione had said, "why would he want a Muggle-born to defend him?"

Harry looked around. He saw some people he didn't know, who looked vaguely foreign, and he knew they must be from Ginny's old magical university, Athena's Shield in Greece that Mrs. Weasley had invited. Ginny was now one of the most highly rated Investigative Aurors in the world. Athena's Shield had the most advanced and complex defense training and tracking of Defense Against the Dark Arts. She had studied there for two years after she finished Hogwarts. She had returned to England and worked for the Ministry of Magic for three years. Ginny had gained respect from the wizarding community as a quick, decisive and usually right Auror. Her ability to catch Dark Wizards was almost legend among Auror trainees. Then last year she had been transferred to France when they had asked for her specific help with the Watchside Killer.

"Harry!" Harry heard his name being called and he turned around with the reflexes born of being Seeker for seven years and three more years of Auror training, caught a hurtling pastry that had been chucked at his head.

"Bravo, bravo!" Fred exclaimed, clapping his hands and strolling over to him looking like the trickster he was. "Pay up brother." He held out his hand to Bill who was scowling slightly. "He thought that your Seeker skills were not exactly up to scratch. Hmm." He turned to Bill who had just handed him three Sickles. "Better not bet against the Quidditch skills of the youngest Seeker in a century, Bill. Anyways. How are you, Harry?" He said, clapping a hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry missed the twins at the Ministry. Sometimes it was too deadly serious without them.

"I'm fine. A bit tired though. They had me working graveyard shift last night. In a graveyard of all places." Harry answered.

"You could always come be a test subject for us." Fred said brightly. "It pays good money, but I'm afraid we've had a shortage of subjects lately. I think Hermione might be behind that though..."

George came up behind Fred, looking slightly disheveled. "Fred, we've got a problem."

"What problem?" Fred asked, scrunching his eyebrows together so they formed one single red line across his forehead.

"George Asher Weasley!" A female voice screamed from across the room. Harry recognized it vaguely as Alicia Spinnet's voice. "You come back here right now!"

"Oops." George said, and ducked into the crowd again, disappearing as quickly as he had come.

During the party, Harry wound up talking to Luna Lovegood, who was now the Divination teacher at Hogwarts, and as a real Seer, a much better teacher than Trelawney could ever hope to be. She had a child on her hip with wispy, blonde hair. Harry kept noticing Neville looking up at the baby girl in Luna's arms, lovingly from across the room as he talked to Dean Thomas. Harry smiled. Neville, like Harry, had grown up without the parents that were so unjustly ripped from him at a young age, and Neville seemed determined to be the best father he could be.

Neville came over and stared talking to his wife and offered to take the baby girl, named Cassandra. Harry politely excused himself. He turned to look at the crowd again, wondering if Hermione and Ron had finished their fight. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of red and he turned. He saw a head of dark red hair moving up the stairs, and she turned, and Harry caught sight of her hazel eyes looking at the crowd, but then she turned back around to move up the stairs, holding her skirt in one hand, as not to trip on it, and the other on the rail.

Harry weaved through the people who were still chatting animatedly. He followed Ginny's path up the stairs, rounding its familiar turns and twists as it wound up the Burrow. He reached the landing with Ginny's room on it. Harry felt his heart pound slightly, but pushed the sound of it down and went up and knocked on Ginny's door.

"Come in." Ginny's voice came wafting through the door.

Harry turned the handle and pushed it inwards. Ginny was sitting cross legged on her bed, staring pensively out her window at the bright blue sky dotted with some low hanging clouds. She turned to look at him, hazel eyes intense. She was wearing a dark blue floor length skirt that hugged her modest curves that she had finally grown to accept. A parchment colored peasant shirt hung loosely off her shoulders. "Harry?" Ginny asked, looking at him, confusion in her eyes. "What are you doing here?" There still was a hint of a French accent when she spoke, the way she said her "r"s in the back of her throat.

"Am I not welcome?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow. "Ron invited me."

Ginny's face softened and she smiled. "No of course you're welcome. You just surprised me that's all." She got up from her childhood bed and gave Harry a large hug. "It's wonderful to see you again Harry." She smiled. "How have you been?"

"Good, good." Harry said and they sat down on the bed together. "The Ministry keeps me on my toes. Dark Wizards haven't gone down fast enough and they're scrambling to keep up."

Ginny nodded. She knew the politics of the Ministry like Harry knew the back of his hand, with its scars of Umbridge's sadistic detentions.

"Where are you living now?" Ginny asked, crossing her legs again, sitting tailor style. "In London?"

"Yeah, I'm living in grand ole London now." Harry said with a grin. "A flat, used to be shared with Ron until he moved in with Hermione." He gave Ginny a sideways glance and gulped. The light was catching Ginny's hair, which was hanging down her face, reaching down to her shoulder blades. The red hair looked almost golden in the light of the rising sun. "So, where are you living?"

"I'm hoping to get a place in London too." Ginny said, looking at him with her hazel eyes. "To be close to the Ministry. Until then, I'm staying here."

Harry felt his heart squeeze gently, and he nodded to her. He heard his name being called out in the hallway. "Harry? Harry!"

Harry looked out the door that he had left open and saw Ron climbing the stairs, the finest film of sweat glistening on his forehead. "What's wrong, Ron?" Harry asked.

Harry had to wait for a second while Ron caught his breath. "Harry, Remus is in the fire for you. Something's happened. Where's Ginny?"

"I'm right here Ron." Ginny said, standing up and walking to the door so that Ron could see her.

"Remus wanted to see you too." Ron said, looking at the pair of them. "He's in the kitchen fire."

The three of them trooped downstairs where now music was playing, from somewhere Harry couldn't see, and Alicia and George were dancing in the center of the crowd and laughing, so Harry assumed that George had released Alicia from whatever prank he had pulled on her before. Harry and Ginny followed Ron into the kitchen where Mrs. Weasley was pulling a cake out of the oven. Harry felt Ron shrink away from the oven. He remembered a time when Ginny had told him that during the summer before sixth year, the oven had almost come alive from all the magic that had been performed on it over the years and closed itself on Ron's bum. Harry had a nagging suspicion that Ginny had some involvement in Ron getting stuck there, but he never questioned her. Whoever upset her, usually deserved it.

Remus' head was still in the fire when they got there. His graying hair still made it look like he was ten years older than he was and there was now a scar that ran from his temple almost to his chin on the right side of his face courtesy of a certain Bellatrix. "Harry, Ginny. I'm glad I caught you."

"What is it, Remus?" Harry put his hand on the mantle above the fireplace.

"I'm sorry to do this, to both of you." Remus said, looking at Ginny now. "Especially on your first day home. I need you both right now. There's a new case that needs the both of you. The address is 117 Seminary Drive, London. Get here as soon as you can."

Both Harry and Ginny nodded. They both knew when they had signed on to become Aurors that the hours were not exactly steady and predictable. They looked at each other for a split second before turning away. Harry took out his wand and then looked at Mrs. Weasley, giving her an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry about bailing out like this, Mrs. Weasley."

"Molly." She corrected him. "And it's fine. You can't help your job. Goodness knows Arthur couldn't. The times he'd get up to raid a Dark Manor." She sighed and then gave her daughter and Harry a good bye wave. "Just be safe. You just got home."

"Mum." Ginny rolled her eyes, so much like Ron. "I'm a trained Auror. I can take care of myself."

"Trained Auror you might be, but you are still my baby girl." Mrs. Weasley said, giving her only daughter a hug. "Go on. I don't want Remus getting mad at you two because I'm keeping you."

Harry waved his wand and then pictured the address in his head, clear as he could possibly get it and Apparated there. He felt a small pop next to him and Ginny appeared right next to him. Remus was standing next to the fire that he had obviously been talking to them through. He looked a little worn out, and also relieved to see them there. Harry took a long around. It was a bedroom, obviously of a woman because of the make-up on the dresser across from the bed, and well, the woman that was sprawled out on the bed sheets, eyes wide in a state of terror.

"This is your new assignment, Harry, Ginny." Remus said, all business. "Victim's name is Frances Bones." Remus said, moving towards the body, where two other people stood, looking over the body. Harry knew there must be at least seven more Aurors outside the room, checking for evidence. "Her sister Susan came to pick her up this morning for a breakfast meeting and found her like this and called the Department."

"Killing Curse?" Harry asked, Remus, taking some magically protected gloves from a trainee Auror, who looked like she was in her first year. She looked slightly sick.

"If you need to throw up, Nadine, do it outside." Remus said to the trainee. "No. No Killing Curse, Harry." He moved towards the body, he already had on his gloves. "The coroner was supposed to be here, but we've done preliminaries, and she wasn't killed by the Killing Curse. That leaves a residue, a lingering essence. We've found very little to none of any kind of magical evidence. It was like it's been wiped clean."

"So why did you call us for this?" Ginny asked, looking up from the folder.

"This is why." Remus thrust a piece of paper towards them, written in a steady hand and on a scrap of parchment paper.

_You want to see the killer from eyes_

_Untrue to the scene before you lies_

_We walk through our days sullen_

_While the truth lays buried, fallen_

Harry handed it to Ginny, who peered at it for nearly a full three minutes before talking. "It looks like it was written in a hurry, see how the letters are scrawled." She pointed out to blobbed bits of the parchment to Remus. "He must have either written right before or after he killed her, and he's left handed."

"How do you know that?" Harry asked, looking at the parchment through squinted eyes.

"It's written in cursive. When a right-handed person writes in cursive, the letters slant to the right. And the exact opposite happens to a left-handed person. They slant to the left."

Harry realized why the letters had seemed a bit off.

"Other than that, I'm not of much use." Ginny said, handing the parchment back to Remus. "That's more of the Cryptic department."

"I've already sent a copy to them, to see if there's any magical or Muggle decryption." Remus said, tucking the parchment into the folder and looking at them. "You two remember Susan Bones, right?"

Both nodded. Susan had been an active member of the DA, and then of the Order of the Phoenix after they finished Hogwarts, and until Voldermort's defeat almost a year later. "Some of her family was killed in Voldemort's first rise to power, her aunt, her uncle and two cousins were killed in a mass murder scene in Bristol." Remus said. "She's waiting out in the rest of the house, somewhere. Harry, please go question her, and Ginny, please help me. We're going to start the spell trackers. There must be something here that the killer left."

"Remus…" Harry protested. "Why…" Usually he was the one that did tracking spells with Remus. He cleared his throat. "I mean, sir, I thought that I would be on Tracking Duty not Ginny." Harry couldn't help the slight whine that penetrated his voice.

"Harry." Remus' voice had a steely quality to it. "This is not a favorites competition, this is based on skill. Ginny has more training whether you like it or not."

Harry felt himself flush at his behavior. He was a trained Auror, not a scorned child in pursuit of a piece of candy that was on top of the cupboard. He nodded jerkily and walked into the other room of the house. He saw two other trainees standing, talking in the hallway, in low, hushed voices. They straightened up when they saw Harry close the door behind him. "Where's Ms. Bones, Trainee?" He asked authoritatively.

"In the living room, sir." The female trainee said. Her hair was a dark shade of purple that offset her dark blue eyes well. Harry was reminded suddenly of Nymphadora Tonks when he had first met her.

"Have either of you two asked her any questions?" Harry asked.

"No, sir." The male trainee said. "Remus told us to wait for a Field Auror."

"Well here I am." Harry said. "Parchment? Quill?"

They handed him his requested items and he walked into the living room. Susan sat on an overstuffed red armchair, her elbows on her knees and her dark blue eyes rimmed with red were focused on the floor, and her body shook as she took in breath. Tears leaked out of her eyes, but she bit her lip to try and stop the tears from flowing. She pushed back her shoulder blade length auburn hair away from her face as she heard Harry's footsteps on the wooden floor.

"H…Harry?" Susan stuttered, catching sight of him. She wiped away the tears on her face, and looked up at him. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm going to be a Field Auror on this case." Harry said, coming over to sit next to her. He had not been close with Susan in DA, but knew her to be quite adept at Defensive Charms and had captured several Death Eaters as a member after Hogwarts. She could have many enemies of the families of the Death Eaters she had killed or captured. "You were the one that found Frances?"

"Yes." Susan choked back a sob, holding her stomach as if she was going to be sick and more tears fell down her face. "Every…every Thursday, we go to breakfast together. It's my day off at Madame Malkin's dress shop…that's where I work now. I came by to pick her up as I usually do…but she didn't answer her door. She's like…was like." She gasped out a sob again. "clockwork. She was always the one up at dawn, always. So I unlocked the door, and found her…found her like that." Susan dissolved into tears again.

Harry put an arm around Susan, and let her cry on him. He didn't know what it was like to lose a sibling, and he never wanted to, judging by the way that Susan was crying.

Back in Frances' room, Ginny and Remus were preparing the room for Tracking Spells. Ginny was cleaning her hands with a magically infused cloth given to her from Remus. "So what do we know about the victim?" Ginny asked, handing back the cloth, all business now. "Friends, enemies?"

Remus took it and cleaned his own hands. "Her name was Frances. She worked as an editor for the Daily Prophet, so she didn't write stories like Skeeter did. She was in a relationship with a man named Rupert Kline, so we've dispatched an owl to his house to come to the Ministry for questioning."

"When a woman is murdered, boyfriend or husband is the first subject." Ginny muttered underneath her breath. Her training was coming back to her, all the nights of being in class, yawning, wishing she was in bed, but staying awake so that she could keep up with the more adept Greek students that studied there. "Any record on this Rupert Kline?"

"No." Remus said, covering his eyes with protective classes, he motioned for Ginny to do the same. "Not so much as an Apparition violation." Ginny put her classes on, and took out her wand. "Ready?" He asked. "On the count of three. One, two, three."

With a whoosh and a dense white fog emitted from both of their wands. It filled the room, covering everything and creeping into every corner. Tracking Spells were designed to uncover any trace of magic in the room that was there. Any remnant of a spell would show up. Usually.

Ginny took off her protective glasses, eyes wide and mouth slightly open. The room was completely wiped clean. There were no traces of spells whatsoever, not even the protection spells that were supposed to be on her bedroom weren't there anymore.

Ginny looked at Remus, wide a grim look on her face. "We have a problem."


	3. Complications

Chapter Two: Complications

"Alright, people." Remus said. He was standing up at a round wooden table with about five other people. Two Aurors, one woman named Elsbeth and a man named Rhett had trainees with them that they were supposed to be evaluating for their training final. One man was heavily scared and had a round blue eye that twisted around and flipped over and over, so aptly giving his name Mad-Eye Moody, one of the most paranoid, but also most adept at catching Dark Wizards. Harry and Ginny were sitting next to each other at the table with Ginny next to Remus. 

"We've got our victim." Remus said, sending Frances Bone's picture around the table for everyone to look. Moody gave the picture a little sniff with his nose that had a piece missing from it and handed it to Elsbeth who passed it on. Moody took a swig of his flask. "There's something wrong with this scene. There are no traces of spells. Nothing."

"But that's impossible." One of the trainees piped up. Harry almost hid a smile. He knew that tone. It was the tone Hermione took up when she was trying to convince someone that they were insane for thinking such a thing. "All spells leave a trace. Even Sourgify, which is supposed to clean up everything. All spells leave a trace." She repeated as if that would make it true.

"You see our dilemma, Trainee Juliet." Remus said, and she blushed and looked down. He turned his attention to the rest of the Aurors in the group. "Even the most trained and skilled witches and wizards have not been able to erase magic like we saw today. Someone that has found a way to do thisÉ" Remus sighed and ran a hand through his gray streaked hair. "It's not safe. It would totally cripple Auror Headquarters as we know it. With no magic to trace, we have no way of tracking killers like this one."

He turned to Moody. "Alastor. We need you to check around in the history books. You have the most knowledge about Dark Wizards by yourself. We need to know if this has happened before."

"Yes, Remus." Alastor almost growled. 

Remus turned to Elsbeth and said, "Elsbeth. Take the trainees back to the crime seen. I want their opinions on it by the end of the day. Maybe a fresh look on it will break something. Rhett." Remus startled the light haired young man out of his trance. "Get a list of all of Bone's grudges together. She couldn't have been all good. She had some enemies. Find them and bring them here for questioning. Harry. Ginny. You're in charge of this investigation from now on." He looked at the both of them. Both heads of their fields, Harry in combat and Ginny in investigation and they both looked back at him with the same fierce determination. "Bones was a respected member of the magical community. Expect high press. Especially with missing magic. Are you prepared to handle that?"

Harry nodded. He was no stranger to the press. They had near followed him everywhere his first year of Auror training, and nearly took some reporter's heads off in the process of trying to catch Death Eaters. "There was enough press to cover the Watchside Killer to fill five dumpsters." Ginny said frankly. "You just need to know how to deal with them."

Remus nodded gravely. "I leave this in your capable hands. I need to go talk to the Minister." He left the room with a sweep of his cloak.

Harry looked over at Ginny. She wasn't paying attention to him, she was looking over the notes in the file that Remus had left in her hands. "I need to go back to the scene, Harry." Ginny said, standing up and grabbing the file folder. "I need to look this over one more time."

"Got any ideas?" Harry asked, following her out of the conference room.

"No." Ginny said reluctantly. She hated to admit it, but at the moment she was stuck. With the Watchside Killer, he had cleverly not used as much magic as the next wizard to kill his victims, but instead chose a Muggle way of killing his victims with rope around the neck to look like a Gutter Propinqus Curse. But no magic at all? That baffled her mind beyond reason. 

Harry looked sympathetically on Ginny. Her hair has been pulled out of her face while she was at the crime scene, he assumed, and was currently in high, messy ponytail. Strands were escaping the tight band she had used, and dangling down the back of her neck and hanging down her face. Ginny looked back at Harry intently, but her mind was elsewhere, he could tell. 

Ginny looked at Harry and felt her heart clench. He had grown painfully handsome, and she had forgotten how he had. She shook her head. You are not a giddy schoolgirl. She pulled out her wand. "Do you need me go with you?" Harry asked as Ginny took a breath before she disappeared. 

"No thank you, Harry. Go with Alastor and see if you can find any reports of vanishing magics." She gave him a small smile and with a snapping noise, she was gone.

Harry walked into the enormous library that held the Ministries achieves. When Hermione had found this place during her internship after the Final Battle, she had nearly collapsed out of excitement at the sight of the tall, imposing bookshelves filled to the brim with old and ancient as well as shiny and new texts that covered all the history, theories, spells and charms of magic. Hermione described the smell alone of what she wanted her house to smell like. Ron had rolled his eyes at her at the time, but since they had moved in together, all the books Hermione had been collecting, the flat was beginning to smell like this library. 

Harry moved along the shelves, familiarizing himself with it again. It had been a while since he had been in the Ministry Library. He was a Combat Auror, not an Investigative one so most of his time was spent dueling or patrolling. He spotted Alastor and Remus talking at a table in low hushed voices. Alastor had already gathered some books around him, one propped open while he took a furtive look around and then took a swig from his hip flask. 

Harry walked up to the pair of them. "Remus." He said quietly. Remus turned his face up to look at Harry in the face. 

"Ah, yes, Harry." Remus said. "Was there something you needed?"

"Just a question before you see the Minister." Harry contemplated his question carefully, rubbing his hands together behind his back. Something he did whenever he was nervous. "Why did you assign me to this case?"

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

Harry cleared his throat. "I mean," he paused. "I'm not usually assigned to murder investigations. At least not until the end, when they're going in for a capture. All I'm wondering is why."

Remus sighed and ran a hand through his graying hair, honey-colored eyes all of a sudden tired. "Even before we knew about this disappearing magic trick, this case didn't have a good feeling about it. Frances Bones has too many connections, too many ties to powerful witches and wizards. It reeks of Dark Magic and those who still follow the ideals of You-Know-Who." Remus had never actually said Voldermort's name and Harry was never going to press him on that. "We need Ginny on this case. She's exceeded every expectation anyone has thrown at her. But with the expected media coverage, she will be a target for whoever killed Bones." Remus locked eyes with Harry. "This is where you come in. I need you to protect her. Make sure her job runs smoothly and I need you to help her in whatever way possible. You went through Investigative Auror training, didn't you?"

"Yes." Harry felt his face flush a bit. "I didn't get the highest marks in it though." 

Remus waved a hand at him. "Ginny will take up your slack no doubt." Harry felt his temper rise slightly at being accused of being anything but extraordinary. But within a millisecond he scolded himself for being cocky. Remus continued on. "JustÉkeep her safe, Harry." Remus looked at him, tilting his head slightly. "She's precious."

Harry felt the moment weigh his brain down for a movement as he thought back to his Hogwarts years. He spent so much time being protected and cared for by the Order and even, his heart gave a pang of sadness even now, years after, Dumbledore, that he took his role as protector very seriously. Ginny wouldn't approve of Remus telling Harry to watch her back, as her fiery personality wouldn't adhere to being told that an Auror was going to watch her every move, even if that Auror was her ex-boyfriend. 

Harry nodded in agreement. "I will, Remus. I know how precious she is."

Remus watched Harry walked away from the table, and sadly rubbed his temple with two fingers. Alastor looked up at him, electric blue eye rolling to the back of his head to check and see if anyone was there. "Playin' matchmaker, Lupin?' Alastor said gruffly. "We don't have time for games on this one."

"It's not a game." Remus said quickly. "I'm just worried. About both of them."

Alastor looked understanding. "It's the old's duty to worry about the young."

"And the young's duty to scoff at the worries of the old." Remus finished.

Ginny walked carefully into the apartment again, familiarizing herself with the layout, where the doors and windows were and the furniture. Narrowing her eyes, she noticed the dresser in Frances' room had been moved slightly. There was a dent in the carpet where the legs had previously had been and a good half a foot between the dents and where the dresser now stood. 

Pausing, she moved to stand next to the door. She looked down at her feet and noticed that if the dresser hadn't been moved, she wouldn't have been able to fit there. How long had the killer been in her room? How did he get in the room to begin with?

Ginny went and sat down on the bed and held her head in her hands. Too many questions. She always hated the beginning of cases just for this reason. An inquisitive child had led her to this line of work, always wanting to know what was going on and always being able to find out had thrilled her. This caseÉGinny shook her head. There was nothing different about this case, just another woman murdered and she needed to find out whom this killer was if he intended to strike again. 

The next week passed without much incident. Ginny spent most of her days at the Magical Investigative Services Department inside the Auror division, examining evidence collected at Frances Bone's apartment, while Harry conducted interviews with the rest of her family and the boyfriend, Rupert, not to mention the list Rhett had managed to pull together of hostile letter writers to the Daily Prophet about her. 

Ginny let out a blast of frustrated air as she performed another spell on the note left at the scene. They had been testing it for days now and it had failed to reveal anything. No special ink traces, no suspicious materials in the parchment. Everything was so generic that it was starting to give her a headache. 

"Ms. Weasley, you shouldn't be hitting yourself over the head about this." A voice sounded out from behind her. Ginny turned around in the swivel chair where she had been for the last couple hours. It was Rebecca, the dark red haired lab assistant who had been helping her all day. Glasses were perched on the end of her nose as she carried a couple vials in her left hand to Ginny's table. "I think you're looking too hard at this. Maybe you should take a break and get something to eat."

"I'm not hungry right now." Ginny said tersely, glaring angrily at the piece of parchment. 

"Alright then." Rebecca said mildly as if she hadn't heard the edge to Ginny's voice. "The deli down the street had some Shepard's Pie the last time I went in, probably about an hour ago. Didn't know if I should grab some for you while I was there." She turned her blue eyes to stare over her glasses in Ginny's direction. "They probably would still have some if you asked nicely."

Ginny looked up to give Rebecca a knowing glance. How did she find out that Shepard's Pie was her favorite dish? Mrs. Weasley used to make it all the time when all the Weasleys were small. "Fine, then, you win, you evil woman." Ginny said, standing up and stretching her back. "I'll be back in about fifteen minutes."

Ginny walked to the Apperation Point on her floor, as it was impossible to Apperate out of the Ministry itself, there were designated spots where if you at the proper clearance, you were able to Apperate within the Ministry and to the entrance. Ginny walked, her head still running in circles, thinking of spells, dismissing others to just come back to the same conclusion. She was stumped. And she didn't like it one bit. 

"Whoa, Ginny!"

Ginny gasped and promptly knocked into Harry, tripping and somehow ending up on the floor. "Ginny, are you hurt?" Harry asked, rubbing his stomach with his left hand and holding out his right for Ginny to grab. 

"Just my elbow and my ego." Ginny muttered underneath her breath and she took Harry's hand and he lifted her easily off the cold marble floor. She dusted off her skirt just as a way not to look Harry immediately in the eyes. It had been so long since she had been in his presence and she was still a klutzy silly girl. 

Finally she did look up into his eyes. "I'm sorry about that, is your stomach okay?"

"I think it'll manage." Harry said, giving her a nervous smile. "Lucky nothing was in it. I was just heading topside to see if I could find something."

Ginny's eyebrow rose. She was going to have a talk with Rebecca when she got back. "Same here."

Harry's grin turned lopsided and retained that boyish charm even after all these years. "Well then, Ms. Weasley, would you mind if I accompanied you?" He held out his arm cordially and Ginny gave a small laugh.

"Don't mind if I do, Mr. Potter."

Harry and Ginny Apperated to the entrance and walked out into the sunshine that was filling the alleyway that served as the secret entrance to the Ministry of Magic. Sidestepping a pile of garbage in her way, Ginny followed Harry out into the afternoon sun of London. "So have you found a flat yet?" Harry asked as they continued to avoid pedestrians and tourists whose cameras were continually attached to their hands.

"Yes, I have." Ginny said, neatly avoiding two small children who were running in the opposite direction, giggling while weaving in and out of people. "Nothing special. I'd forgotten how expensive London was."

Harry nodded, and they turned into the deli and they separated for a moment while Ginny filled her craving for Shepard's Pie and Harry went around and found a bag of chips and a pre-made sandwich. After paying, they walked into the dining area and sat down at a vacated table. Ginny opened her bottle of water and looked Harry over. She couldn't believe it had been almost a year since she had seen him last. Hermione must have forced him to get a haircut recently, Ginny smiled, he wouldn't have done so otherwise. 

"So, what have you been up to?" Ginny asked, fiddling with her food. "I haven't seen you since, wellÉ"

"Interviews mostly." Harry said. "Alastor started in on my interrogation tactics and I think was mumbling about youngsters not knowing their place as he was walking away today. I don't think he's very happy with me."

Ginny almost choked on her food as the urge to laugh and compulsion to swallow came into conflict. "What did you say to him?" Ginny asked when she regained the ability to speak.

Harry shrugged, but looked sheepish. "I might have mentioned that his eye was looking a little sluggish and might be due for an inspection."

"Oh HarryÉ" Ginny started laughing. "You're going to have to be checking your food for poisons for the next month."

"Why do you think I got this?" Harry asked, holding up his sandwich and the chips. "I don't think Alastor would venture this far from the Ministry anyways. I think he got even more paranoid since when he worked at Hogwarts."

"Being locked in your own trunk will do that to an Auror." Ginny said, taking a careful bite. 

"If nothing else." Harry unwrapped his sandwich and took a large bite. He chewed a little bit and took a swig of his soda. "What about you? Anything from the lab?"

Ginny sighed. "Nothing. That's what's so troubling." She shook her head and her mind returned to the chaos that she had left behind. "I hate that the lab is in the middle of the Ministry though. At least in France, we had a separate lab in the middle of the country that was strictly Auror run. The stray magic that escapes from the Department of Mysteries messes with the equipment occasionally and trying to talk to those UnspeakablesÉ" Ginny gave a frustrated noise. "I don't see why we can't do the same thing here." "Money. It's cheaper to keep everything clumped together as is. " Harry explained. "If there was a separate location, we'd need the same spells and protection to make sure Muggles don't find it. Time and effort by the country's best spell casters equals lots of money spent by the Ministry that they don't want to part with."

Ginny scowled. "So we're sacrificing the ability to find killers like this one for a couple pennies. Sensible, I see."

Harry held up his hands up in the air in a gesture of surrender. "I didn't say I agreed with it."

"Oh, I know you didn'tÉ" Ginny said. "I'm just frustrated, I'm sorry. This case is giving me a headache." She rubbed her temples with her elbows on the table. 

Harry glanced at her hardly touched plate of food. "Ginny have you been sleeping well lately?"

"What?" Ginny looked up sharply.

Harry cleared his throat. "I know you didn't sleep well when you were stressed out about something, back at Hogwarts." To the trained eye, the very tips of Harry's ears turned a tinge pink while he remembered exactly how he knew that. "I'm just making sure you're not stretching yourself out about this case."

"I'm fine." Ginny said, bristling slightly. "Sleeping like a baby."

Harry opened his mouth to respond her to her short reply but a man came up to their table, short and balding with a comb over as to pretend that he wasn't. Harry felt his stomach sink slightly when the man pulled out a quill. "Mr. Potter." He said in a voice that sounded sure and calm. "I'm with the Daily Prophet and I was wondering if you and Ms. Weasley would answer some questions about the murder of Frances BonesÉ"

"Bugger." Harry heard Ginny mutter but he gave a scathing glance to the reporter, which made him almost visibly flinch. 

"No comment." Harry said evenly and stood up and grabbed Ginny's arm and tried to be as gentle as he could as he yanked her up. "We're leaving, Ginny." 

"Mr. Potter, the public has a right to know!" The reporter followed them as they exited the deli while pairs of eyes followed them curiously. "You can'tÉ"

"I can do whatever I bloody well feel like it." Harry said calmly as he continued to lead Ginny and himself away from the man. "Do not try my temper." He spun around to glare malevolently at the small man who paled at Harry's eyes, which had suddenly turned stormy. Ginny had to stumble a couple steps to keep from falling from Harry's sharp stop. "I don't think many of you will forget what happened the last time a reporter got too friendly with their questions." He grinned a loose arrogant, and strangely feral, smile.

The man visibly gulped, but stuttered, "You should not tÉthreaten me, Mr. Potter, the publicÉ"

Harry snorted. "Hah, you must be new at this. You really think the public will lead a revolt against me as soon as they hear that I've threatened yet another reporter?" He turned around and grabbed Ginny's arm again and continued walking, now looking completely pissed off. 

"HarryÉ" Ginny said, as they neared the alleyway to the entrance to the Ministry. 

"I hate those leeches." Harry spat venomously. "Stupid, bloody carnivorous leeches that need to feed on anyone's painÉ"

"Harry." Ginny said sternly. 

Harry turned to glare this time at Ginny but unlike the reporter, she stared just as hard back. Harry's gaze softened and she felt the grip on her arm loosen and pulled herself loose and they walked in silence back to the entrance. Within seconds of entering the Minsitry again, a voice cried out that made both of them turn, alarmed. 

"Harry, Ginny!" It was Rhett, the other Auror assigned to the Bones case. His usually pale complexion was flushed and his sandy colored hair was mussed. 

"Rhett!" Ginny cried out, concerned as Rhett skidded to a stop and was panting in front of them. "What's wrong?"

"Where were you guys?" Rhett asked, still gasping. "I checked the lab, but no one wasÉ"

"I stepped out for a bite to eat." Ginny responded. "What is it?" Her hazel eyes narrowed as Rhett caught his breath and stood up straight. 

"There's been another murder." Rhett said shortly, eyes hooded and he looked over at Harry now, looking slightly panicked. "They're officially labeling him a serial killer."

Ginny said something explicit and inappropriate that Harry jerked his head in her direction. She looked furious. She turned her head to look Harry in the eyes. "We need to talk to Remus." 


End file.
